Skills Assessments

Throughout your textbook, you will find an assortment of interesting "tests" that sample a
broad range of skills, abilities, and traits. Although these exercises allow a glimpse at
aspects of personality, the results must be interpreted with caution. For this assignment,
complete the self-assessment, "Will You Be a Hit or a Miss? The Expectancy for Success
Scale," on pp. 53-54. Consider how employers and fellow team members could use this
instrument at work. Is this test reliable? Is it valid? What are the potential benefits and
drawbacks of a test that attempts to measure skills, abilities, or traits?
· Resource: pp. 53-54 in Psychology and the Challenges of Life: Adjustment in the
New Millennium

Directions: Indicate the degree to which each item applies to you by circling the appropriate number, according to this key:
1Highly improbable
2Improbable
3Equally improbable and probable, not sure
4Probable
5Highly probable
In The Future I Expect That I Will:
1. Find that people don't seem to understand what I'm trying to say 1 2 3 4 5
2. Be discouraged about my ability to gain the respect of others 1 2 3 4 5
3. Be a good parent 1 2 3 4 5
4. Be unable to accomplish my goals 1 2 3 4 5
5. Have a stressful marital relationship 1 2 3 4 5
6. Deal poorly with emergency situations 1 2 3 4 5
7. Find my efforts to change situations I don't like are ineffective 1 2 3 4 5
Self-Assessment
Expectancies Personal predictions
about the outcomes of events.
Self-efficacy expectations Beliefs
about one's ability to perform specific
tasks successfully.
Reflect
Do you expect that you will succeed?
Do you believe in your abilities?
How does your self-confidence
(or lack of it) affect your
self-esteem and behavior?
54 Chapter 2 / Personality
8. Not be very good at learning new skills 1 2 3 4 5
9. Carry through my responsibilities successfully 1 2 3 4 5
10. Discover that the good in life outweighs the bad 1 2 3 4 5
11. Handle unexpected problems successfully 1 2 3 4 5
12. Get the promotions I deserve 1 2 3 4 5
13. Succeed in the projects I undertake 1 2 3 4 5
14. Not make any significant contributions to society 1 2 3 4 5
15. Discover that my life is not getting much better 1 2 3 4 5
16. Be listened to when I speak 1 2 3 4 5
17. Discover that my plans don't work out too well 1 2 3 4 5
18. Find that no matter how hard I try, things just don't turn
out the way I would like 1 2 3 4 5
19. Handle myself well in whatever situation I'm in 1 2 3 4 5
20. Be able to solve my own problems 1 2 3 4 5
21. Succeed at most things I try 1 2 3 4 5
22. Be successful in my endeavors in the long run 1 2 3 4 5
23. Be very successful working out my personal life 1 2 3 4 5
24. Experience many failures in my life 1 2 3 4 5
25. Make a good first impression on people I meet for the first time 1 2 3 4 5
26. Attain the career goals I have set for myself 1 2 3 4 5
27. Have difficulty dealing with my superiors 1 2 3 4 5
28. Have problems working with others 1 2 3 4 5
29. Be a good judge of what it takes to get ahead 1 2 3 4 5
30. Achieve recognition in my profession 1 2 3 4 5

Solution Preview

Since I do not have your exact book, it is difficult to know precisely the scope. However, I offer some of my ideas for you to consider as you formulate your own reply:

As you evaluate the self-assessment, you might note that employers and fellow team members could use this
instrument to get an overall glimpse of a candidate's likes/dislikes/strengths/
weaknesses. In other words, I see it as offering a rough profile in terms of listing some character traits, but I do not see it as valid overall. Do you? I also do not ...